If this is America, why do I have to PRESS ONE FOR ENGLISH?

Question

there's a paper floating around with a picture of John Wayne on it and a telephone. The caption has John Wayne asking, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO PRESS ONE FOR ENGLISH?"...I agree. What about you?

Answer 1

Would you rather they say, "Press numero uno?"

Answer 2

While most people who come to the United States eventually learn English, not all come here already knowing the language. Many companies have to make allowances for customers who do not yet have a good grasp on the language. If they don't, they lose customers and potential profit and most businesses are all about making as much money as possible. English, while being the common language of the United States, is not technically the official language.

Answer 3

You've chosen the wrong enemy, as John Wayne did several times.

The telephone recordings you refer to were made by private companies trying to serve large customer bases including illegal immigrants who speak Spanish and who won't learn English. It's not the fault of the companies that illegals live in their service areas.

The real villain here is the US government, which will not adopt a tough anti-illegals policy. We need to tell them to change.

Answer 4

well the US doesn't have an official language, though it is a given that most of us speak English, this country was built on immigration everyone who's here with the exception of native Americans came from a different country... actually no different than what the Mexicans are doing now, people came in by the boat load so the country wanted to see what language would be the most dominate so that they could implement it as our official language but that never panned out and we're stuck w/o an official language you also have to realize that a lot of tourist come here as well as immigrants who can't speak English fluently so they feel more comfortable speaking in their native tongue

Answer 5

oh i dunno maybe because this is the land of immigrants (legal and illegal) and these people have a country of origin and a whole other language...

also we cater to the world so visitors appreciate the array of languages spoken here in the good ol U S of A


People like you and John Wayne need to chill. These immigrants (legal or not) are not going anywhere... these people are here to stay especially Latinos and Asians. Look around.

Live in peace and stop b i t c h i n g better yet donate or invest in schools that offer ESL courses. Wouldnt that be productive.


Stop feeling above others.. it makes you look ugly.

Answer 6

To begin with, that is not any more of America as this (Argentina) is. You mean "If this is the USA...".

Now to your point, haven't you heard that being exposed to other languages makes your mind and brain brighter? Why would you refuse that? And besides, do you know those menues in phones, ATM's, and the like, exist in all countries? Here in Argentina, I have to "Press 1 for Spanish", too. And that's not the end of the world, you know?

Answer 7

Because everyone who comes to this country nowadays is too lazy to learn English. And no, I'm not trying to put down the way anyone speaks.

If you want to use your native language at home, that's fine. But in order to conduct any business in the U.S., you should be able to read, write, and speak English, the official language here.

Answer 8

Because this IS AMERICA. We are a Mosaic of people. We welcomed, in theory anyway, all nationalities and any people who wanted the freedom we profess we have. My ancestors came from northern Europe, and we were welcomed (maybe hazed a bit, but we are still here) And since we were welcomed by a country that professes to so freely give, we are now obligated to welcome others. And that may include letting them work in sub paying jobs until they have enough money to take language classes.

Answer 9

Wasn't that question made in English in the first place?I guess John Wayne must undertand Chinese then.

Answer 10

I mentioned this a couple of days ago to friends. Have you noticed these exceptions are made for Spanish speaking people only?

3) for Polish
4) for Arabic
5) for Japanese
6) for Chinese
7) for Russian
8) for French
9) for Greek
10) for pig latin, etc

These do not exist, so why are we making exceptions for people who refuse to learn the english language?

Answer 11

Because English is NOT the official language of the United States. The US has NO official language. This must be changed before we can ask everyone here to speak it. Talk to your state representative and ask them to change this!